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By HVnews on February 29, 2012

TMZ reports: “A person who was with Davy this morning has told Sheriff’s detectives … the singer began to complain that he was not feeling well and was having trouble breathing. Paramedics were called and Jones was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding his death.”

Born in Manchester, England, Jones began his career as a child actor, appearing in British soap operas throughout his teens. He starred as the Artful Dodger in Oliver! on Broadway, and in 1964 appeared with the rest of the cast — and a then-little-known band called the Beatles — on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Signed to Screen Gems, Jones was cast in The Monkees, a TV show about a band with the same name, but it was the band itself that took off. Jones sang lead vocals on singles “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer,” the Monkees’ last No. 1 hit in the U.S. Jones left the band in 1971, but would rejoin for several reunion tours.

Jones continued to release albums through 2009. In 2008, Yahoo Music named Jones the No. 1 teen idol of all time.